Dragon Bound

Chapter 2

All of her life, Ryoka has only known the road the most, thanks to the constant moving of her father from place to place, he says it is due to the nature of his work but she had long stopped believing that , no business analyst should have to move around so much.

Ryoka had attended so many schools that she had even lost count of just how many, for this reason as well she has had a lot of setbacks because some schools wouldn’t allow her to continue right from where she stopped without the proper documentation –which she usually doesn’t have thanks to her father’s rush every time they have to move- so she had to start over or repeat a particular class more than a few times.

Starting over or repeating those couple of times had her drawn back such that she was now very much older for the class she is currently in, no one ever knows that fact though, because she doesn’t claim her actual age, thanks to the fact that she looks way younger than her actual age, so at nineteen, she is able to claim sixteen without anyone raising an eyebrow.

“Hey Kiddo, what’s wrong? You have been awfully quiet” her father said to her while he was driving in his moderate high speed which he always maintained at every move so as to avoid being flagged down by the authorities and yet still make good time.

Ryoka had a hand on her chin and her cheek was plastered to the side window which she had rolled up, she didn’t even bother to answer despite hearing her father, the main thing on her mind was the phenomenon that had occurred not up to an hour ago on the school football field.

She was absolutely sure that the field had been intact when she got there, so what could have caused that freakish burning that had spared just right where she was and only there out of the whole field.

A couple of unbelievable notions also presented themselves at the back of her mind, the fact that she had bodied someone almost twice her size and the fact that she had ran all the way home and hardly felt a thing after, even till now.

But her utmost curiosity rested on the field and its mysterious burning without a fire, she really was being chewed out by the unexplainable factor of it all, she would have loved to discuss it with her father but then she was too angry with him at the moment, he had chosen a really wrong time to move, but at least she wouldn’t have to deal with Lily and all the drama surrounding the whole issue, the funny thing was that Lily's wish not to see her again just probably came true.

“C’mon baby, talk to me, is it the move? I feel it has to be the move that has got you like this” her father prompted, trying to get her to speak out her grievances.

“Dad, could you please just leave me to my thoughts? I don’t really care about the stupid move” Ryoka answered, then she blew a sign of exasperation.

Her father looked at her for a while, taking his eyes off the road by so doing, he looked at her with pity and guilt, deep down he knew she deserved more than he had been able to provide to her.

“Eyes on the road dad, I’m still young, remember?” she said to her father who cleared his throat as he obeyed his daughter.

“I’m sorry Ryu” her father said, calling her in a way only he ever did “I’m sure it must hurt to have to move again, I know how much this place had meant to you since we got to spend more time here than we ever did at a place before” he pleaded with his daughter.

“But why Dad? you encouraged me to join the school team dad, you asked me to participate more, live life more, why did you say all that only just to uproot me from it all again, disrupting all I have worked to develop, to build” Ryoka asked with obvious pain in her voice.

Her father gripped the steering tightly till his knuckles were white, his guilt tripled at hearing those words from his daughter, she deserved more, this he knew.

“I’m sorry baby, I really am, but please know that all this is for your sake, I'm only doing this for you” her father said with remorse.

At that point she remembered a fight between them both some years back, she had been begging him to let her stay and continue with her school while he continues travelling about with his job, it had seemed simple to her then, all he’d do was pay for her studies and come visit whenever ‘work’ permits him.

But it had been to no avail as he made her understand at that time as well that she was the reason they had to be traveling, that it was all because of her, till now she wishes to know what that had actually meant.

She heaved another sign and she reclined the more into her resting posture, “Fine dad, just please drive and leave me alone, I really want to be alone and just in my thoughts” Ryoka said to her father.

She couldn’t help but remember when she was little though, she had loved these movements then, she was always thrilled when the next move came up and she would always pester her father for the location of the new place.

'Where had those times gone and where was that little girl?' Ryoka thought to herself.

They drove on in silence for a while, then her father started getting agitated, he kept checking the rearview mirror and after a few consultations he sped up.

“Buckle up baby, things are about to get a bit rough” her father said to her.

Ryoka grabbed the door and her seat as her father increased their velocity, she didn’t even know that the old Ford explorer could attain such a speed.

“Whoa dad!” Ryoka squealed after her father made a high risk maneuver to overtake some cars in front of them.

The road in front of them was a really long one and to the sides where just bushes and large expanse of lands and the occasional windmills and farms.

Whatever got her father in this state was beyond her, but she was used to not questioning her father over anything at all.

They went even faster after each car they overtake, Ryoka started to remember an incident like this once before when she was very young, her father had drove like a demon being sent out of hell.

So just like the last time she as well focused a bit on the rearview mirror and was able to see some other mad drivers weaving in and out of the sparse traffic.

Ryoka gulped and grabbed her seat tighter, 'We are being followed’ she realized and said in her mind, she is very sure now that all those years ago this same thing had happened.

Then just when she felt they had given the pursuers enough gap to escape them, their car crashed into another which was in their front, and from her father’s expression and cussing after the crash, she knew it had to be part of the pursuers that they had crashed into.

Ryoka’s father pulled a series of moves with their car and was able to flip the other car in front of them, of course that only got them displaced as well and he had to right themselves once more so as to continue with the run.

All Ryoka could do was squeal all through the ordeal, and she squealed some more when she saw that the other two pursuers already caught up to them.

She had watched enough movies to know that their pursuers had to be either from the government or from a powerful and independent top firm, seeing that they were all driving Chevrolets and were suited up albeit in all white suits.

The cars engaged their own car and after a bit of tousling, another car was flipped, Ryoka thanked her stars for her dad’s expertise at that point and wondered how he knew to do that and even how long he must have been doing it to have gotten that good.

She was a bit too early with her appreciation though because the last car ran them off the road even though it skidded off a little ways ahead of them as well.

Their own car came to a halt between marsh and mounds and started smoking, Ryoka looked panicked and felt the same, she looked to her father who only had an angered expression on his face.

By now the whole road was devoid of cars as the few people who were on the road had also ran for their lives.

Looking ahead at the last Chevrolet, Ryoka saw a bulky man get out, and she immediately thought he was odd looking because his bright reddish brown hair was a huge contrast to his white suit.

“Ryu baby” her father called, and she looked at him to see that he was looking at the man as well, a fixed gazed filled with anger and malice.

“Listen carefully cos I need you to remember everything I’m about to tell you, when I start to engage that man, you have to run, no matter what you see, just run, go, I will send someone to help you and later I’ll meet up with you. Survive and grow my little burning fire, this is not the end, remember that I love you always and I’m sorry for failing thus far” he said all in a rush and grabbed her in a tight hug after which he pecked her forehead then dashed out of the car.

Ryoka blinked, she couldn’t believe what was happening, she could hardly even comprehend what was happening, she was frightened speechless, but her father’s words rang clear in her mind.

She looked at her father walking towards the man, they weren’t on the road now, rather they were on the vast land a few ways away from the road.

They just stood there and watched each other for a while, She guessed they must be talking or something, but then the odd looking man slapped his hands together like he was forming a hand seal or sign of sorts and from where Ryoka was in the car, she saw his body start to give off steam.

Her father followed suit and slapped his hands together as well forming a different sign though but then he as well started steaming and white vapor poured out from their bodies.

The next thing that happened shocked Ryoka so much that she almost fainted from being overwhelmed by what she saw; her father and the odd looking guy had just transformed, they shifted, the shape shifting kind of shift and they didn’t just shift into any kind of creature, they shifted into creatures of legend, large and wide and twice the size of behemoths.

They shifted into dragons.